


hold onto me ('cause i'm a little unsteady)

by loonyBibliophile



Series: maybe i won't die alone [2]
Category: The Librarians (TV 2014)
Genre: Autistic Cassandra Cillian, Case Fic, F/M, Gen, Pre-Relationship
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-05-31
Updated: 2017-05-31
Packaged: 2018-11-07 08:19:39
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,489
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11055024
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/loonyBibliophile/pseuds/loonyBibliophile
Summary: Not for the first time, Cassandra is endlessly glad for the beanie Ezekiel had given to her a few weeks before. But this time, it’s not because of the braids she tugs on, but because of the extra warmth it provides as she and the rest of the team stand in a freezing cave somewhere in Ireland trying to find a pile of cursed gold.This work is a sequel to 'melt your headaches call it home'





	hold onto me ('cause i'm a little unsteady)

Not for the first time, Cassandra is endlessly glad for the beanie Ezekiel had given to her a few weeks before. But this time, it’s not because of the braids she tugs on, but because of the extra warmth it provides as she and the rest of the team stand in a freezing cave somewhere in Ireland trying to find a pile of cursed gold. 

“Something is wrong with this cave.” she announced, swivelling her head around, squinting at the icy stone walls. “I can’t see it yet, but something isn’t right.” She walks carefully along the damp floor, one hand stuck out for balance and the other trailing along the wall, cold soaking through the tips of her soft gloves. She stops, closing her eyes, and she feels a steadying hand on her elbow as she tries to visualize her powers spreading across the cave. She opens her eyes and smiles as Ezekiel stands a bit behind her, squeezing her arm, grounding her. Raising her arms, she rotates her vision of the cave, examining the dimensions, analyzing the kind of rock, comparing temperatures. 

“I think I got it!” she called, pulling facts and figures from her memories into her vision, fighting off a growing headache from the swirls of sounds and smells. “This kind of rock isn’t local to this area, and the temperature is completely steady and not within the averages for this area. I think this is a pocket dimension created by the curse to defend itself.” 

“Well, then how do we shut it down to find the gold?” Eve asked, frowning as she glanced around the cave. 

“Not sure yet… I have to figure out what’s generating the dimension. We have to go further in.” 

Cassandra spun her vision again, making sure her version of the cave was angled the same as her view of the actual cave as they began to walk deeper into the dark. Ezekiel and Jake walked on either side of her, and Eve brought up the rear, keeping an eye out for threats and holding their light source. But the deeper they got into the cave, the harder it got for Cassandra to focus. The magic of the curse was generating white noise in her senses, trying to keep her from being able to keep track of where they were. She stopped abruptly, her hands quivering as she shook her head.

“I don’t think I can do it. It’s… it’s fighting me, it’s overwhelming my senses and thought processes with some sort of magical static.” she raised one hand to her forehead and leaned involuntarily to one side. Jake caught her shoulder, pushing her upright.

“Come on, Cassie, focus on your memories. Breakfast. Pancakes. Orange juice.” he said, moving to grasp both of her shoulders. Cassandra shook her head violently, the braids of the beanie shaking back and forth. 

“ ‘Zekiel?” she asked, pulling away from Jake slightly and extending one arm towards the other side of her, where Ezekiel stood. He nodded, and immediately pulled her over to him, wrapping her in a tight hug. He pressed her as close and tight to him as he was capable of, rubbing his bare hands along her arms as well for good measure. She pressed her head against his chest, counting his heartbeats while she drummed her fingers in the fibonacci sequence along his spine until the static faded, her vision stopped spinning, and the headache began to fade into nothing. 

Eve and Jake regarded the scene before them with interest, sharing a look before turning back to watch Ezekiel and Cassandra as Ezekiel moved his hands from along Cassandra’s arms to having one pressing into her lower back and the other on the base of her neck, just under the ends of her hair. Cassandra slid her arms from his back to the center of their embrace, her fists pressed between them. After a few more moments, she let out a long, audible breath and nodded against Ezekiel’s chest. 

“Thank you.” she said with another nod, her voice quiet and even. Ezekiel shrugged. 

“Of course. Do you need me to—”

“Yes, that would help, actually” Cassandra answered, before he could finish his sentence. It was Ezekiel’s turn to nod as he waited her Cassandra to pull her model of the cave back into view and face forwards before wrapping an arm around her waist. “Okay, let’s keep going. I’m sure the curse’s resistance only means we’re getting closer.” 

With Ezekiel helping keep her grounded to reality, Cassandra continued to walk deeper into the cave, manipulating the model to match what she saw and taking note of abnormalities, The static was still there, buzzing and sharp at the back of her mind, but with the warm weight of an arm around her, she was able to keep the worst of it at bay and continue working. 

Jake watches the two out of the corner of his eye, and idly wonders when exactly they got so close. After all, despite their issues with each other, before the surgery he’d always been the one to talk Cassandra down from one of her episodes. Today, she’d literally pulled away from him, and asked for Ezekiel by name. And he’d held her. And it didn’t look like the first time, either. Now, he still had his arm around her waist, and if it looked like Cassandra threatened to get overwhelmed, Jake could see Ezekiel press his hand tighter against her side, fingers rubbing gently. Cassandra faltered in her steps, and Ezekiel pulled her closer, leaning forward and whispering something into her ear, his nose brushing her hair. 

Eve wasn’t quite as confused as Jake was, but she was surprised. Not by the closeness between Cassandra and Ezekiel, but by how attentive Ezekiel was being. Doting or affectionate weren’t exactly words Eve would typically assign to their resident arrogant thief, but it was really the only way to describe his current treatment of Cassandra.

“It’s just like the labyrinth!” Cassandra piped up suddenly. “That’s why I’m so dizzy, this cave is constructed the same way. Which means the gold is the string, and will be at the furthest point of the cave, and if we remove it, the dimension will collapse. This space is part of the effect, not the focus.” 

“Will we have time to get out before it collapses?” Eve asked, glancing between their current position and the mouth of the cave behind them. Cassandra nodded.

“Yes. It’s been here for at least a century, the residual magic will hold it together long enough for us to leave. It may fight back though. It feels… stubborn.”

“Any idea how much further?” Jake squinted into the distance and Cassandra shook her hand back and forth.

“I can tell it’s further, and extrapolate based on patterns I remember from the labyrinth, but this is a different myth, so there’s no guarantee. I can say, because the point is to lure people to the gold, it can’t be too deep. After all, the gold is what wants to take the people, so it wouldn’t do to have them stuck in the cave and die that way.” 

It took almost an hour, but the team finally reached the back of the cavern, where a little alcove cut into the rock held a pile of gold, glistening with magic and ice crystals. 

“Ezekiel should be the one to carry it out.” Cassandra offered, turning to face the others.

“What?” Jake cried. “Yeah, give the pile of cursed gold to the thief, that’s a great plan, Cassie.” 

“Magic like that historically hasn’t worked on Ezekiel, Jake. In fact, the only magic we’ve encountered that did was Prospero’s happy ending spell. Well, and the libris fabula, but that didn’t really change him so much as increase his existing qualities.”

“Cassandra is right. It’s the safest bet.” Eve agrees with a concise and quick nod. 

So, with a brief smile at Cassandra, Ezekiel scooped up the pile of curse gold, pouring it into a cloth sack they’re brought to carry it out in. Slowly but surely, they made their way back to the mouth of the cave. It put up a fight, tossing rocks their way, shaking, cracking, but they made it out with only minor bumps and scratches. 

“Thank god that’s over.” Ezekiel said with a laugh as the four of them re-entered the Library via the back door, by way of an old storage shed holding excavation equipment outside the cave. “It was bloody freezing in there.” 

“Do you want some hot tea? Or cocoa? It’s a little late in the day for coffee.” Cassandra smiled warmly at him and turned towards the kitchen.

“Cocoa sounds great. I’ll go put a documentary on. Bring snacks.” Ezekiel returned her grin before heading for the stairs back to the living quarters where they’d all taken to staying instead of in their respective apartments.

**Author's Note:**

> hey guys! hope you enjoyed this installment in the autistic cass series! i have at least one, probably two, more stories in this verse so keep an eye out!


End file.
